Graffiti Art

A friend just emailed us a link to this collection of awesome (and dirty!) graffiti from Pompeii. We know it seems like it couldn’t possibly be real, but Pompeiana.org seems like a legitimate academic site. (They describe themselves as “an online resource for all things Pompeian… a place for original research by scholars in the fields of art, archaeology, architecture and classics.” And the site is packed with stuffy academic papers — seems like an awful lot of work to go to for a prank.) And besides, Pompeii is known for its phallic and erotic artifacts (and, we suppose now, its poop jokes).

Since its creation in 1999, Faile, the Brooklyn street art collaboration between Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller, has had an overwhelming influence on “low art” and “high art” alike. Beginning with wheatpaste and stencils, the classic tools of the trade, Faile gradually moved onto printmaking, painting, sculpture and multimedia installations, maintaining their signature collage-style throughout. Their ability to branch out in other mediums is what ultimately established them as legitimate artists. Their recent work, which includes “customized Buddhist prayer wheels and an American flag reworked with Pueblo-inspired linework, relies on re-imagining sacred objects on an increasingly grand scale.”

The Los Angeles Times has caught up with the artist responsible for those Obama/Joker posters popping up around your local healthcare town hall. And shockingly, he’s not a Republican. He’s a Kucinich supporter.